ED2012 Book Event Review: Vic Armstrong (Edinburgh International Book Festival)

Slightly unusually for the Book Festival, this event revolved around movies. As Vic Armstrong (the Guinness World Record’s most prolific stuntman, now turned director) was interviewed, silent clips of his appearances in well-known movies were shown and occasionally discussed. But it was also revealed how he was also the driving force for improvements in the industry, with his fan descender meaning that stuntmen no longer had to jump off buildings into piles of cardboard boxes and hope. Most remarkable, however, is how he grounded he seems, talking casually about continuing with a Bond stunt despite cracking both heels, and hosting a party with Harrison Ford. A man with far more stories to tell than just an hour would permit.